The Wind-Clad Archer, A SAO side-story
by yySky
Summary: I'm okay with not being the top, I'm okay with just being a casual gamer, especially in this Death Game called Sword Art Online. But when I accidentally stumbles upon an Unique skill, what happens?
1. Chapter 1

The Wind-clad Archer

A SAO side story

Chapter 1: Wait, what?

_I don't fight bosses! This isn't my territory! Dammit! _I mentally cursed as I hid behind another huge boulder, only to be blasted away a second later by a huge fireball. My HP bar dropped a little bit due to the splash damage from that fireball.

In this Death Game, I'm perfectly fine with the others clearing the game, I'm just going to do everything at my own pace, and if I "happened" to clear the game, then all the better, but one ground rule that I laid for myself, was NEVER fight a boss monster.

This monster, «The Scarlet Deathbringer» was actually just a giant firebird, but the fact that it has "The" in front of its name means that it's a boss monster.

"Tch," I grimaced as I jumped out of my now useless hiding spot and threw another throwing pick at the boss monster, dealing minimum damage at best.

The firebird screeched and gained some altitude, _oh shit— _I recognized that attack pattern! It's going to—!

_Dive-bomb._

As the firebird itself turned into a giant meteor crashing right into me, I wondered how I got myself into this situation in the first place.

…

As a fresh graduate from the Tokyo University, I couldn't believe my luck as I was scouted by a gaming company, or rather, a section of the company focusing on publishing a gaming news magazine of sorts, and I was being interviewed for "In-game Journalist", whatever that meant. The interview was amazingly simple, the only question was: Are you good at MMORPGs?

My answer was, obviously, yes.

"Okay, Akira-kun, you're hired!" My interviewer extended his hand over to me for a handshake, "I hope we get along."

"T-that's it?" I raised an eyebrow. I honestly thought it's going to be way tougher than that, heck; I even prepared a whole list of interview questions for this.

"Yes! Unbelievable, right? I couldn't believe it too when I was asked that exact same question a few year ago, but you'll be surprised at the number of people who would answer no to that."

"Right…" I shook his hand, "I hope we get along too." I managed a smile.

"Now for your first project…"

…

My first internship project was apparently to do a follow-up of a new and upcoming game, "Sword Art Online", by follow-up I mean actually record every single bit of the game over the course of the entire history of clearing the game, and do a weekly article on it. I just couldn't believe my luck when I heard that, it's like "For your job, play this game!"

That and the fact that it was the first Virtual Reality(VR) game with only 10,000 copies released, basically a dream come true for all online gamers, feels so dream-like that I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up half-way during all of this, find myself in my college dorm and looking at my half-finished graduation paper.

It went downhill from there, starting right from the magical words: "LINK START!"

You see, I created a female character just to test out how "real" it felt, all for the sake of the article I was supposed to write. It felt real alright, right down to the wind blowing between my legs and, well, the … missing body part. I wanted to log out, delete this character and make a new _male_ character to start proper, but I couldn't find the "log out" button anywhere, even the "call GM" function didn't work.

You can say I freaked out right there and then.

Right after that, the blood-soaked GM announced that this was a Death Game.

Death game.

It was not a phrase with a precise definition. If it were to be considered as a «match involving bodily risks», that would include martial arts, rock climbing and such, even to the extent of motor sports. What separates those dangerous sports with death games is probably just a single condition.

That the penalty of death is clearly stated in the rules.

Not as the result of an accidental incident. A coerced death, served as the consequence of the player's mistakes and defeat, or punishment for the violation of rules and other reasons. In short, murder.

The game's developer, and as such, the ruler, Kayaba Akihiko, had personally made that clear declaration without the slightest hint of doubt, a mere minute ago.

That if the HP were to reach zero—that is, on «defeat», they would be killed. Or if the Nerve Gear were to be removed—that is, to «violate the rules», they would also be killed.

The only way to log out, to escape from this "game" would be to clear it, but that is no mean feat, the Floating Castle Aincrad is formed by floors, reaching up to a hundred, narrowly piled atop each other.

To clear it would mean defeating every boss monster, get up to the next floor, defeat another boss monster, get to the next floor, the cycle continues for a 100 times.

It just felt so… unreal.

On top of that, from the reports I've read while waiting for its official release at 1 PM, during the two month of beta testing, they only made it to the eighth floor. To be honest, I was glad when I read that, it means that this project would continue for a long long time, but not so much now.

You could say that I'm praying for myself to wake up in my dorm room right now, with a half completed graduation paper right in front of me.

One thing positive about that announcement would be that I got my real gender and looks back, but that's just trivial when you compare the pros and cons of that system message, right down to the panic that soon followed. I noticed out of the corner of my eye as two particular players, one young and dark haired and the other older and scruffier, the older one gets drug off by the younger darker haired boy amidst the chaos.

…

Three weeks into the game, I'm starting to regret my AGI build, it's just that AGI, in every other game, represents speed, reflex time, and all the speed related stuff, of course in SAO, it's the same, however, the damage from AGI types, or rather my gameplay style, in SAO, are _really _low, when the damage number pop up, I could just feel all the stares of my party members, and a giant banner hanging over me.

NOOB

With these painful experiences, I gradually went solo and do my training at night, where the number of players, and therefore the chances of being KS-ed, is noticeably smaller. Why not changing builds? You may ask, because AGI is the primary stat for the «Knife Throwing Skill» I've been relying on as my primary skill. Right after the system announcement, I found out that there are no magic in this game, that doesn't really concern me though, "The mage" is not what I usually choose, however, any ranged type weaponry, like say, a crossbow, or even a slingshot, is unheard of, even the beta tester I got a hold of, Diabel, have no idea of any ranged type weaponry other than throwing picks I'm using right now. So as a "ranged-only" kind of player, I chose to get familiar with this only ranged option in the game.

"Why not just use sword skills?" Diabel asked while using a sword skill «Horizontal» to slash at a boar.

"Ah well, melee was never my strong point in any MMO, and this is a death game, right? Being close to a monster means the possibility of being damaged, so I'll rather not risk that." I smiled sheepishly while activating the «Single Shot» skill at the boar, with system assist, the throwing pick flew accurately at the boar.

Critical hit!

The system message announced that the pick dealt 4 times the normal damage, which still didn't match up to a normal damage from a single «Horizontal».

I mentally sighed.

On top of everything, I'm still a journalist of sorts, so you could call it an occupation hazard that I chose something different from everyone else to get "fresh stuff".

"It's alright, AGI types are mostly late-game types, right?" Diabel came up to me with an understanding smile and patted my shoulder, completely misreading my earlier quietness as "sulking over low damage".

"Thanks." I faked a smile, "I'm taking a break Diabel, thanks for the party."

Swiping my fingers to open the menu, I disbanded the party and went my own way, ignoring Diabel's calls of protest, I walked away.

_Thanks for the party Diabel, but I'm dragging you down, lowering _your _chances of survival._

…

Okay, depression was expected, but to sulk this long? Wow, I even surprise myself, I thought as I walked endlessly through the hunting fields dotted with players. The first floor of Aincrad, where the «Starting City» was, spans 10KM, but with ten thousand or so players, it means that it's really densely populated as of now, and being an anti-social guy, I normally shy away from the crowds.

_I need to get away from the pack, find somewhere clean and start grinding. _

I sighed and stared at my HP bar, 368/425, Lv. 4. EXP to next level: 2567 out of—

"Excuse me, could you help us?" I looked up in surprise. In front of me was an old man, an NPC? I strained my eyes, his cursor has a NPC mark beside it and something peculiar, a question mark, meaning that whatever he asked just now would be the start of a quest.

"Yes," I answered, registering the start of the quest, quests are something else that gives experience points in the game other than killing mobs, which I though is quite useful for me since I can't even effectively kill any monsters.

"We are a peaceful village, living on farming; we have a small population…." Blah blah blah blah, the NPC continued with the backstory of the quest, "But lately, our farm was burnt and livestock eaten by unknown monsters, so please, kind adventurer, would you please help us?"

Quest start?

YES NO

I shrugged and pressed YES, not noticing the earlier request.

The old man immediately smiled, wow, just how much emotions are these AIs supposed to have?

"As you can see, our farm was burnt several days ago," the old man pointed at the fields, I raised an eyebrow, and since when did I wander into a town? Besides, why is this place so… _empty?_

"We tracked the monsters to this location on the map," He pointed at a location in my map, the beep sound waking me up from my daydream, "But they proved too powerful for us, we would supply you with anything we can, so please vanquish these monsters and save us from our plight!"

I blinked, wait, what? Kill monsters? My eyes twitched, "Erm—"

You are fully healed!

Item received: Fire resistant coat x 1

Fire resistant pants x 1

Protective head-band x 1

Icicles x 500

Healing crystal x 15

Burn heal x 25

Map data updated!

Quest Status Window updated!

Kill 400 «Lava worm»

Completion:

0/400

The system message interrupted my speech, and I gawked at the amount of items I was given. Wow, with this much stuff, I probably _can _kill the monsters, whatever this «Lava worm» is. One thing in the items given caught my eye, Icicles x 500? What in the world? Judging from the sheer number it came with, it should be a throwing type equipment to be used with the «Knife Throwing Skill». I took one out, activated «Single Shot», the icy-cold icicle gave off a blue aura and shot off. So my guess is right, it is a kind of a throwing pick!

Icicles x 499

Great, I just wasted one.

…

Apparently, these "unknown monsters" lived in an active volcano. Why didn't I see anything like that on the map data that was given in the «Starting City»? I wondered as I threw another Icicle at the quest mob, «Lava worm». It died in one hit, these guys apparently are weak to ice-type weaponry like this Icicle, they gave a lot of EXP too, but no items or Col, which was disappointing, but nevertheless, I gained several levels from them.

Completion:

223/400

Although I'm just about half-way through the quest, the entire mountain path seems to be void of anymore of these Lava worms, with a sigh, I continued walking ahead, I stared at the map data, what's ahead is a giant plateau, an open space with lots of boulders.

Nice, another spawn area.

I hesitated as I walked up to the rocky plateau, this plateau felt ominous somehow, but then it didn't felt threatening enough to stop me.

I was so damn wrong about that.

The plateau was, as expected, a big flat place with lots of boulders, what's eye-catching is the mouth of a volcano that's still smoking.

Where are all the worms?

I half-wondered as I looked down at the mouth of the volcano.

And immediately pulled back and ran behind the nearest boulder.

With an ear deafening screech, a monstrous firebird burst out of the volcano, spread its wide wings, and screeched again.

«The Scarlet Deathbringer», four HP bars, everything about it completely overrides what I've seen so far.

It's…. a BOSS monster?!

Quest status updated!

Side quest activated!

Boss event triggered!

"Oh shit! You have got to be kidding me!" I screamed out as I hopped out of my hiding place and rushed to the mountain path I came from and started to put some distance between the firebird and myself.

Only to find the exit is blocked.

_Shit._

As I looped around frantically, dodging the fireballs the firebird is shooting at me, I cursed my impatience, _why can't you just wait for the monster respawn!?_

I rolled out of the way of another fireball, AGI types have the advantage of speed, this was the one time that I'm glad that I focused on AGI.

The shriek that made people quiver uncontrollably resounded once again.

I activated «Single Shot» and threw an Icicle at the firebird. Its HP bar didn't even drop.

"Tch, how am I supposed to—!" I rolled out of the way of another fireball.

Strangely, facing death didn't make me all frozen and unable to do anything, it made me strangely calm, I quickly realized that the only thing that it does was shoot out fireballs while hovering in the sky, and the fireballs follow a certain pattern.

"—There!" I shouted as I dashed out of my hiding place and threw three Icicles at the firebird, this is a more advanced version of «Single Shot», «Triple Shot», the damaged dealt by the individual throwing knife is lower, but the overall damage is higher.

This endless cycle should have continued till I kill off the boss—or so I think.

When the firebird's HP bar dropped to last red, it gave another shriek and climbed some altitude.

_Huh? What's going on_—?

And dived straight down like a crashing meteor.

My eyes widened, I made a bee-line for the nearest cover, and gasped for breath.

And was immediately knocked back due to the splash damage from a fireball, the boulder took most of the damage, and shattered.

If that was me…

I activated another «Triple Shot» skill, it's all down to this! I felt the skill activate and—

No Icicles flew out.

I stared bewildered at my hand, what—?

Icicles x 0

No freaking way, at this critical moment?

Without these Icicles, this thing is way out of my league!

I mentally complained and dashed behind another boulder. I pulled out my equipment window and chose my old "Steel Throwing Pick", well I just have to try my best now. I calmed myself mentally.

The firebird climbed again, with three throwing picks in my hand, I dashed out of my hiding place and activated «Triple Shot», the throwing picked glowed a deep red and flew off to the target, which dive-bombed down at that moment.

With another ear-wrenching screech, the firebird stopped mid-dive.

_What?_

It looked stunned for a while, then, the firebird, still higher than its usual hovering position, fully expanded its wings. As its wings beat forward, a loud *bang* sounded. A giant heat wave surged towards me, deflected the throwing picks and engulfed me, throwing me off balance.

"Uwaaaa!" I noticed my HP dropping into the red zone with a warning beep, _that, from just a single direct hit?_

While the firebird seems to be recuperating from that heat wave attack it did just now, I opened my inventory and took out the healing crystals that I was too occupied to use. While using them, something else caught my eye.

Fire resistant coat x 1

Fire resistant pants x 1

Protective head-band x 1

I'm such an idiot…

I should have immediately equipped them when they were given to me for the quest, but as they offered even less protection than my current patched up armor gotten from the boars, I regarded them as "just useless NPC equipment". However their names seem to suggest otherwise.

With the newly equipped gear and refreshed HP, I turned to face the firebird again.

"Let's finish this." I stared at the giant firebird, its HP bar has just a little bit left, while I had full HP all over again, there was no way that I can lose this one.

I focused on the climbing firebird while charging up «Triple shot», it seems that it would be stunned the moment it was hit when it is in dive-bomb mode.

I felt my pupils dilate, and the firebird seems to be doing everything in slow motion.

The firebird stopped mid-air.

_Not yet._

It started dropping, gaining speed.

_Not yet._

It gained even more momentum, looking fully like a crashing meteor.

NOW!

My right hand threw off the «Triple shot» that I was charging, while in mid-motion of that throw, my left hand grabbed another throwing pick, seemingly sub-consciously, and threw it along with the three picks.

All of them hit the firebird straight on its head, the firebird stopped mid-air like I expected it to, it gave off another shriek.

Then its body froze, and as soon as I noticed that—

«The Scarlet Deathbringer» shattered into countless red shards. Fragments of red light rained down, looking like red snow.

Critical hit!

Fatal Blow damage bonus!

Critical hit!

EXP 213000

Col 12400

Items 6

As I stared disbelievingly at the system messages and the item distribution table, more messages came in.

New skill learnt!

Quest Status Window Updated!

Level Up!

Level Up!

Level Up!

I blinked several times in surprise when lights danced around me, indicating gaining of three levels, and then quickly checked the items I got from this firebird.

Other than a "Phoenix Egg" with no options around it whatsoever, the others were all quest items, my shoulders fell in disappointment.

I checked my skill window, where the NEW! Popup is flashing.

«Fatal Blow»

Chance to deal instant death effect while the enemy's HP is below 5%

Effect increases with level.

So… that was Fatal Blow? That last throwing pick my left hand threw. I had never been so thankful of a new skill activating than this one.

…

"Thank you master adventurer, now our village would be safe again." The old man said joyfully.

I have no idea how I staggered back to the village, half dazed from the boss fight, half dazed at the awards given.

Really, you could give me something better than just a mere 4000 Col, I risked my life, you know.

_And what's with that side quest!?_

As if reading my thoughts, the old man grabbed my hand, "Oh yes, you seem capable, follow me." He started dragging me to some house in the village.

I swear if it's another quest…

Turns out, it was an altar of some kind, and in front of me now, is a statue of an elf holding a bow, yes, a bow. Seemingly mocking my desire of wanting a strong ranged type weaponry.

"Master adventurer, it seems that you did more than just vanquish the Lava worms, you even calmed the death phoenix, you meet the requirements to be our village legend's inheritor, do you accept?"

Accept skill upgrade?

YES NO

Upgrade? Why not?

I pressed YES without hesitation.

WARNING

SKILLS TO BE REMOVED: ONE HAND SWORD SKILLS

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO UPGRADE?

YES NO

That got me, although I mainly use my «Knife Throwing Skill», I did charge some mastery into that skill on the first day, so deleting it now seems like a waste, and if the new skill is some complete crap, I can't just start all over again right?

However, looking up at the elf with the bow, maybe it was just my inherent defiant character, I pressed YES.

CONGRATULATIONS!

New skill branch unlocked!

New skill slot unlocked!

«Path of the Wind Archer»

Sub-skills:

«Sharp eyes»

Passive

Gives an additional chance to deal a critical hit (CRIT+5%)

Increased search range

Increased Spatial awareness

Effect increases with level

«Bow mastery»

Passive

Increased accuracy (ACC + 5%)

Increased base bow damage (+5%)

Effect increases with level

«Blessing of the Wind»

Passive

Increase STR and AGI parameter (1%)

Effect increases with level

«Double shot»

Active

Shoots two arrows at 80% of original damage.

Cooldown: 2 seconds

«Wind Piercing»

Active

Summons the power of the wind into an arrow that does 150% of original damage, hits multiple targets in a straight line, damaged decreases with each target hit.

Cooldown: 5 seconds

«Wind Walk»

Active

Becomes invisible for a set amount of time. (10 seconds)

Effect increases with level.

Cooldown: 10 minutes

I looked at my skill window with my mouth wide open, there is such an awesome skill branch for the «Knife Throwing Skill»?

"Sacred Bowmaster, please check your inventory, with a little help with the town blacksmith, the remains of the death phoenix you brought back was made into a Bow and supportive equipment."

_Town blacksmith? But I haven't seen anyone other than you—! Wait. A. Minute._

I practically dragged my inventory out of the menu and materialized the bow that suddenly appeared in my inventory.

The Phoenix Wing

Two handed long bow

Range: Medium-Long

Item Level: 1

Item EXP: 0%

ATTK 50-100

Once again, I'm amazed at the intricateness of the game, if it weren't a death game, I would gladly pour hours each day into this, but then again, I'm doing the exact same thing.

"Sacred Bowmaster, with our town's legend, please, save everyone in Aincrad!" The old man gave off a prediction-like speech.

_I'm sure that's just a part of the quest…I hope?_

"So… Now what?" I asked him, fully expecting a 'now you have to do this!' kind of thing, but the NPC just gave a puzzled look.

Right, almost forgot you were just a NPC.

…

"Don't…move… now…" I muttered as I aimed the targeting reticle at the boar, as elated as I was, I couldn't just brandish this newfound skill while everyone is around as it definitely will attract unwanted attention, there was even an incident where a player was challenged to a duel just because he unlocked a new branch of sword skills, there's no telling what would happen once people realize that I'm an archer. So in the end, a few weeks after I acquired the skill, I'm still stuck being a nocturnal solo player.

The phoenix egg I've acquired seems to be another quest item though, because there's a new icon near the bottom part of my screen showing an egg symbol and a green bar, currently it's only about 25% full, I wonder what will happen if it maxed out?

The awe-inspiring bow that I got, «The Phoenix Wing», is an item that grows with the player, I don't really understand how it works, but currently its weapon level is 2, EXP 3%, its attack bonus seems to rise with each level, so I probably don't have to worry about changing gears anytime soon.

Which brings us back to the main topic, _dammit don't move you boar! _I silently cursed when another arrow missed, when not using the bowman skills, system assist won't help your attacks to hit, but this way, I won't attract any attention to myself, as each active skill (I tested them out thoroughly) is amazingly flashy, the «Double shot» skill shoots two arrows that shines purple, the «Wind piercing» activates with a sound of a huge gust of wind, and with each target it hit, it gives off a loud bang. Well, another reason, although not too important, is that system assist makes it too unreal, I've seem a «Double shot» turning ninety degrees just to hit a moving target.

Critical hit!

While I was daydreaming, my brain actually automatically did something useful, the boar died under the single critical hit arrow. Being unusually high-leveled from the EXP I got from that firebird boss monster, this boar didn't even register 0.01% of my total exp. I sighed again, this is going to be a long night…

…

"So… Tired…" I moaned as I lied down on the inn's bed, another advantage of a nocturnal solo player is that the inn never runs out of empty rooms during the day, my eyelids immediately felt heavy the moment I fell on top of the bed, I'm glad that there wasn't a need to bathe in here.

A sudden beep woke the half-asleep me up.

Diabel has added you as a friend, Accept?

_Just let me sleep… _I randomly pressed a button.

…

On the other side, Diabel smiled as a system message appeared.

Kira has accepted your friend request

[END]

A/N: I loved SAO right after watching the first episode of the anime, after that I dived straight into the light novel, reading up to Vol 10 as of now. Then I thought, it's strange that a MMO only contain swordsmen/melee users. And I, for one, really love ranged attacks, so I thought what would have happened if I happened to play SAO, and well, this is the result of my daydreaming. Might or might not continue this, for now, this is just a one-shot. Well, the name for my character is the common name I used for my fanfics, anyway, my character was supposed to be a girl at first, right? So Kira does fit in here unlike my other story.


	2. Chapter 2

The Wind-clad Archer

A SAO side story

Chapter 2

THUK! With the sound of an arrow striking, another one of these «Killer Mantis» shattered into countless polygons like all of its kinsmen before. I wonder if these monsters feel any pain? I shook my head, why wonder about these things, they are just digital data and it's not like I'm one of these animal rights activist back home anyway.

Level UP!

I blinked in surprise, as usual, my hands are still working while I was daydreaming, night hunting in a forest on the 20th floor is surprisingly simple, so simple it gets to the point of being mechanical, all you have to do is to climb onto one of these trees in this forest, watch for any monster spawn in the area, and shoot them down, so I distract myself with idle thoughts.

Of course, you'll have to acquire a long range skill like «Archery» first, but 5 months into the game, with the frontlines at the 29th floor, and the emergence of a weekly newspaper-like publication, «Weekly Argo», there still wasn't any news about a new branch of skills being unlocked, thus I'm starting to suspect that «Archery» may be one of these "one-time quest" or "event quest" reward, in other words, a unique skill.

No point worrying about it now—_what's with that pressure?_

I quickly looked around, but no one was there except for more monsters that spawned.

"Fuu, I guess I'm overly paranoid then," I sighed and aimed my arrow at another mantis.

_Wait, no, I have «Enhanced spatial awareness», if I felt pressure, it means the system is trying to tell me something, orange players maybe?_

The players in SAO are split into four main categories.

The first consisted of a little over half the players—they were the ones who still wouldn't accept the conditions that Kayaba Akihiko had put forth and still waited for outside help in the «Starting City».

The second category consisted of about 30%, or three thousand players. It was a group where all the players worked together, sharing food, information, and various other stuff, they didn't have a name initially, but after they received uniforms, people gave them a somewhat grim name, «The Army».

The third category consisted of, at an estimate, a thousand players. It was made up of people who had wasted all their Col but didn't want to make money by fighting monsters, so they used the alternative (and more profitable) method, hunting players, and due to the system labeling them as criminals, they are branded with orange cursors, thus orange players.

The fourth was simply, the rest of the players that does everything else, and the category that I belong to.

Back to the main point …

The moment I considered that possibility, a scream of what is unmistakably, horror, could be heard in the distance.

"...KYAAAAAHHHHH!"

—?!

I dropped down from the tree and immediately ran towards the source of the scream.

As I ran towards the source of the scream, I heard another voice.

"Heh, it's the middle of the night, nobody would come to save you no matter how hard you scream! Hahaha!" An orange player, or rather, four of them, laughed.

_How high level is their hiding skill for them to register under my «Enhanced spatial awareness» as mere pressure!?_

I strained my eyes and my kneels almost gave away when I saw a person with… a _red _cursor among them.

_A red player?! A full PKer?!_

He held up his left hand, with his finger going to his head, chest, left shoulder, then right shoulder, making the sign of a cross.

_N-no way! He's going to—! I have to stop him!_

I brought up my bow smoothly, and initiated a skill. My vision immediately turned green and four aiming reticles came up.

_Please have high enough HP to withstand this. _I silently prayed and activated «Split Shot».

"It's show tim—Wha—?!"

With a *Fuun* sound, four arrows struck the criminal players and they fell to the ground, staring bewilderedly at the arrow protruding out of their chest.

«Split Shot» is a skill that I recently unlocked, it deals a maximum of 200% damage to a maximum of 4 targets, and the best thing is, it inflicts «Stun» ailment for a full 10 seconds to each target that it hit.

"Four men attacking one girl, that's a bit much isn't it?" I decided to act nonchalant to cover up my nervousness.

"What did you say?!" Shouted the enraged orange players.

"What the fuck?! Who the hell are you?" Was the reply from the red player.

"Well, I would like to say that I'm your nemesis or something, but I'm not, so let's just stick with 'someone that got in your way this time' huh?" I said with a smirk and went over to the fallen girl, "You okay?"

"Y-yea…" She seems a bit wary about me too.

"Bear with me for a bit." I smiled and picked her up, _strange… how long is her paralysis?_

"You—!" The criminal players finally realized what I intended to do.

"Well, see ya." With my back turned against them, I raised my hand in a wave.

Although I look calm as I walked away as fast as I could, I was counting in my head.

…_3…2…1…_

I immediately ducked into the trees.

With an apologetic smile, I laid the blushing girl on the forest floor and made a *shhh* action with my fingers.

When they finally passed the bush that we were hiding in, my legs immediately lost strength and I nearly collapsed onto the floor.

_Good thing I was squatting._

"Fuu, oh man, that was close." I let out a sigh of relief.

Then someone behind me tapped my shoulder, I spun around with a horrified face.

"H-hey, th-thanks…" Oh right, the girl I saved, I completely thought that was…

"N-no problem, the paralysis wore off?" I stammered.

"Y-yea, they surprised me, jumping out of the bushes all of a sudden, I was overly reliant on my detection skill I guess…"

_Speaking of which…_ "What were you doing alone in a forest hunting ground so late at night anyway?"

"Well, my guild leader told me to find someone on the 20th floor now that it's almost time to clear the boss…" She trailed off.

I raised an eyebrow, now that I noticed it, she's wearing the red and white knight-like combat uniform belonging to the guild «Knights of the Blood», with a rapier on her thin waist.

She almost reminded me of their famous sub-leader, Asuna, except that she chose to dye her hair white.

"Hmm? Someone from the clearing group is here?" And I thought all those in the clearing group are the people who can't stand being in this "game" for a day and madly rush the floors to clear the game.

"Yea, I think it's strange too—" She stopped mid-sentence and looked at me.

_Eh?_

"But enough about me, I haven't thanked you for saving me just now right?" She gave a big grin that totally contradicted my first impression of her, "Come on! I'll treat you to dinner! Oh wait, erm, supper!"

…

The NPC restaurants operate 24 hours a day, so even in the middle of the night, they still served everything on their menu.

We are on the second floor, in a small town called «Urbus», or to be more exact, a small restaurant in «Urbus».

Looking at the «Tremble Shortcake» in front of me, I couldn't help but recall the nightmares that I faced on the second floor, «Tremble Cow», a giant cow that I swear were as strong as mini bosses.

"A cream cake made from the milk that came from these «Tremble Cow», huh…" I gave an awkward smile.

She probably saw my skeptical look, "Don't worry! It's really good!"

"Uh-huh…" I raised an eyebrow and slowly took a bite.

_Wow._

"It's… Delicious…" I said with my eyes wide open in amazement.

"See, I told you." She gave another big grin.

"…"

She looked out the window, sighed, and said, as an attempt to restart the conversation.

"Thank you so much for saving me back then, I really thought I was a goner."

"Hmm?" I looked up from the cake I was busy devouring, "It was nothing, really, and I couldn't ignore something like that."

"Oh yes, what was that skill you used to simultaneously stun four players?" She asked curiously.

_I nearly gagged on the spongy parts of the cake._

"That was erm, ahem, er, an advanced… skill of the… er… Knife… Throwing skill? Erm yea, that." I managed to blurt out.

"Oh come on, even I know you're lying." She said with a teasing smile.

_Tch… Now what…?_

"Well…?" She inched closer.

_No choice then, _I heaved a sigh, "Well, I can't explain everything. If you won't ask any further than that, I can tell you."

"Heh, what's with acting all cool and like that?" She chuckled.

"Well, we have to go outside too…" I glanced around the shop.

"Geez, acting all mysterious." With that, she stood up and made her way towards the door.

Leaving the delicious cake behind, I followed her out of the shop.

Once outside, I looked around and made sure that, except for NPCs, we were alone, before equipping my bow.

This time is was her turn to look skeptical.

"Well, we're inside the town, so we won't be in any danger from any stray arrows…" I muttered to myself.

"_Ahem." _Oh, right.

I closed my eyes and initiated «Split Shot», my bow glowed a bright crimson and four arrows shot off in different directions.

Turning to the shocked girl, I said calmly, "That was «Split Shot», now I'm going to show you «Arrow Rain»." Might as well.

I narrowed my eyes as my vision turned green again and a large aiming reticle—an area effect—came up.

_«Arrow Rain» _I aimed my bow up at the sky and released the skill.

For a split second, it was as if nothing happened, then, with a sound effect similar to a heavy downpour, countless arrows fell on the city plaza, and numerous «Immortal Object» messages appeared.

I straightened my posture and unequipped my bow, "Well, that's how it is," I smiled sheepishly, "Erm, you there?" I waved my hand in front of her eyes.

She stood frozen with her eyes and mouth left open blankly. Following that, in a voice an octave higher than usual—

"EEEEHHHHHHHH?!"

"W-what?" I took a few steps back in surprise.

"T-th-that's… What was that?!" She practically yelled.

"D-didn't you agree that you won't ask further…?" My right eye twitched.

"But—but, th-that was a unique—" She stammered.

"Shh don't say it!" I put my hand on her mouth to silence her.

She forcefully removed my hand before saying, "But there's no one around…"

"I believe that there's an old Chinese saying that's something like… The walls have ears… or something."

"Hmm, you mean info brokers?" She said with a teasing smile, "Oh yes, if I sell that info…"

"N-no! Gah, I'll do anything! Just don't sell it!" I said desperately.

"Fufu, I was joking before," She continued her teasing smile, "But hey, since you said it yourself, help me with my errand!"

_Wait, what did I just get myself into?_

**Yuki has invited you to join her party.**

**YES NO**

Yu…ki? That's her name?

My finger hesitated over the **YES **button.

"I also believe that there's an old Chinese saying that's something like 'a man must keep his word'." She mimicked me and stuck out her tongue.

"Fuu, fine then, it's a bit abrupt, but I'm Kira, nice to meet you." I pressed the **YES** button.

…

*B—RRIIINGGGG*

My alarm clock went off, signaling that I should wake up and start daily schedule again. I mentally groaned and my hand moved to the snooze button out of habit.

"...Hmm?"

The feeling of something strange and full registered in my hand. I squeezed it twice, and three times to figure out what the springy and slightly warm feeling in my hand was.

"Tori?"

I immediately opened my eyes.

In my hand was… A bird, yes, a bird, but its coloring and design almost look like…

"Ahhhh!" I jumped out of the bed and backed away to the farthest corner of the room, "No—Wait—This—Wha—"

"Tori?" The small red bird tilted its head slightly and let out another weird sound.

**«Juvenile Phoenix: Tori» HP: 150/150**

Another status window suddenly appeared below my own HP bar, almost like during a party.

"J-juvenile Phoenix?" My right eye twitched, this isn't real, right? I'm sure I'm still dreaming, that thing looks exactly like a smaller and cuter version of that boss firebird… «The Scarlet Deathbringer».

With shaking hands, I tapped on its status window.

**«Tori»**

**HP: 150/150**

**Level: 1**

**EXP: 0%**

**Known attacks:**

**«Miniature Fireball»**

**Deals damage in a small area, inflicts «Burn» ailment.**

**Duration of «Burn» increases with level.**

**«Dive-Bomb»**

**Deals damage in a small area, inflicts «Stun» ailment.**

**Duration of «Stun» increases with level.**

In other words, this thing is a … _pet?!_

"Hey, erm, Ph-phoenix?" I tried to call out to it to test my theory, it ignored my call and continued to look around the room, "Urm… Tori?"

"Tori?" That seems to have gotten its attention, because the next moment it flew straight at me.

"Kahhhh—!" With the horrible memory of that Dive-bomb attacks still vivid, I shielded my upper body with my arms, fully expecting an attack, but none came, with a slight thud sound, the baby phoenix settled in my hair, cooed and fell asleep.

I blinked several times in surprise, then the system message decided to show up.

**You have gained a new companion, would like to rename it?**

**Name of pet: ****T****o****r****i**** _ _**

_Really, you should have showed up a minute earlier, then I'll be spared of that embarrassing moment._

Tori is fine, I'm not someone that can be considered as creative, so I'll spare Tori the lame nicknames I might think up.

_But where did it come from? _

While I was wondering about that, with a *knock* sound on the door, Yuki's voice sounded in the room, "Woooi, Archer-san, you awake yet?"

_And I was hoping that everything that happened last night was a nightmare._

"Yea, yea, give me a minute." Picking up the sleeping Phoenix from my head, I started to panic, _what should I do with this?_

*click*! My door was opened from the outside. _Wha—?_

"Hehe, the doors of party members can be opened by the party leader, don't you know that?" She smiled mischievously when she saw my shocked expression.

_If I knew that then I would have locked it._

"Uwaaa! What is that? Oh my god, so cute!" She reached over and almost grabbed the sleeping Phoenix when Tori suddenly awaked and flew out of her grasp.

"Hmm, maybe pets have an anti-theft system…" I held my chin and wondered.

"No way! You got a pet? How?" She asked with in a desperate tone.

"Not telling you," I gave a light smirk.

…

"Well then Archer-san, we're going to find someone named Kirito today!" Yuki said to me cheerfully as we walked down the streets in the town on the 11th floor, to be exact, _tonight, _because we slept so late that our biological clock adjusted to being nocturnal.

"I have a name, you know," I grumbled, "And how are you going to do that anyway?"

"Well I don't really know, the leader just told me to find a person named Kirito somewhere around the 20th floor." _Despite her looks, she is really just a klutz huh… why would her guild leader—_

I raised an eyebrow.

This "leader" that she's always talking about, his name is Heathcliff. He was renowned as the only unique skill user in Aincrad, the only _known_ unique skill user, anyway. His extra skill used a sword and shield combination, both of which were cross-shaped, and allowed the user to switch freely between attack and defense. It was named «Holy Sword».

All that resulted in him being called by various names, The Strongest Man, The Living Legend, The Paladin, etc. The leader of the Knights of the Blood has so many titles that you couldn't count them with your hands.

And this "Kirito" person, although I feigned ignorance while being around Yuki, I have actually heard of him before.

Four days after the first floor's boss monster «Illfang the Kobold Lord» was defeated, the events that transpired in the first floor's boss room was spread and exaggerated to every player on the front lines. Knowledge like the Boss monster having Katana Skills not being included in the prior information. The Raid Party's leader and my friend, the «Knight» Diabel's death. As well as the person who had reached floors higher than anyone else in the beta period, and obtained knowledge by defeating the boss there, the person who obtained the last attack bonus, the «Beater», Kirito.

I dismissed it then as mere beta player hating, it happens in every game, just because there's someone with more knowledge than you in a game doesn't give the right to slam them in every way possible. Although I thought the title «Beater» was actually quite funny, it's like prophesizing that this Kirito person would be the one that eventually beat game, hence «Beater».

Unfortunately, it could be said like this, although Kirito's name was widely spread, not a lot of people really know how he looked like, and in SAO, irrelevant information like the names of people who had no relation to you would not show alongside the cursor. Therefore, even if he is walking along the street beside us right now, we would have absolutely no idea that it is him.

"…san, Archer-san, Kira! K-I-R-A!" Yuki's voice broke this daydream of mine.

"Hmm? What?" I blinked and turned to look at her.

She sighed, "I can't believe that you can space out while walking!"

"It's another 'unique skill' of mine." I said jokingly, "What were you saying again?"

"I was saying that the leader told me to look for someone that wears a black coat and a sword on his back!"

"Right, and does this Kirito person have any special powers? Like say… suddenly sprouting black wings and fly?" I said sarcastically.

"No!" She pouted cutely.

"Whoa, look, I'm just saying that with just these features, we wouldn't find him even if he just happen to run past us…"

!

I stopped mid-sentence, as someone that fits her description really did run past us at that exact moment.

_That black coat, that single sword on his back, is that Kirito? What's he doing out so late?_

I looked at Yuki, she nodded and we chased after him.

We followed him to a drain that was somewhat far from the main street.

_A drain…?_

"…Sachi." I heard him call someone's name.

A female voice then responded, "Kirito…how did you know that I was here?"

The conversation then continued into Kirito reassuring the girl named Sachi that she won't die, it didn't sound very romantic, but it doesn't sound very normal either.

I whispered into Yuki's ears, "I think we had better stay out of this…"

Yuki giggled and nodded.

Once out of their hearing range, I turned to Yuki and said, "Would it be alright that KoB left him alone for a while? I think he has important matters to attend to anyway."

Yuki blinked in surprise, "Mm, I think that's possible, although clearing the next boss would be considerably harder without him."

"Well, explain the situation to Heathcliff, I'm sure he'll understand." I shrugged, "Heck, I think if he goes solo for every boss, he'll still be able to clear it, his unique skill is just that strong."

Yuki nodded, "Yea, that, I have to agree, anyway, Kira, can you return with me to the KoB headquarters? If I returned alone they might think I slacked off and made all that up."

I hesitated and my face obviously showed it.

Because Yuki put her hands together as if praying, "Please?"

…

My first impression of Heathcliff is that he feels like a magician. With a dark red robe and platinum hair that's tied up, and he did not have any weapons on his waist and back, making me associate him with a «magician» class that didn't exist in SAO.

"So let me get this straight, Yuki-kun, Kirito did not come with you because he had personal matters to deal with." He said with a smooth tenor voice that had an iron will in it, making Yuki, and the one next to her, me, shiver.

"Y-yea, that's about it." Yuki said with a shaky voice.

"And this is?" Heathcliff looked at me.

_I used all my willpower to not back off from the enormous pressure my __«Enhanced spatial awareness» is sending me about __this guy._

"I-I'm Kira, her, erm, friend, or rather, we searched for Kirito together." I managed to blurt that out, Tori is doing one of his rare glares at Heathcliff on my shoulder.

"Ho? And this is?" Heathcliff finally noticed the small bird resting on my shoulder.

"This is Tori, my pe—I mean, familiar, I'm a Beast Tamer of sorts." I gave the best explanation that I can think of then.

Heathcliff, for once, looked genuinely surprised, "Just you?" He asked with a strange voice.

"Huh?" That sudden question caught me off guard.

Heathcliff seemed to stop himself, shaking his head, he turned to me with a smile.

_Eek._

"Well then Kira-kun, since Kirito-kun can't be with us, you can join us in his place." He smiled again.

_WHHHAAAT?!_

"N-no, you got it all wrong, I don't fight bosses, I'm not nearly strong enough, and anyway I need enough range before I can dish out damage." I held up my hands up in defense.

"What if you have a group of strong players guarding you? Your level seems decent enough to be in the clearing party, all you need are some tanks to help hold the boss back, then you can just fire away, right?" Heathcliff responded with a perfectly logical answer.

_Wait a minute, how did he know that I have this archery skill?_

But before I can voice my skepticism, Heathcliff pressed on his argument, "Furthermore, you'll be able to protect Yuki-kun, who will be participating in the boss run this time."

_Huh?_

I turned back in surprise, Yuki smiled and nodded.

"As a final offer, joining with us not only increases your survival rate, but it also hasten the rate which the game is cleared, don't you want to fight for your own freedom?" Heathcliff and his perfect logic again.

"Well, I, erm," My shoulders fell as I can't think of any rebuttals, "Looks like the decision has been made for me huh?" I said with a sigh.

With a hand on my shoulder, Heathcliff smiled, "Welcome aboard, Kira-kun."

In the depth of my brain, the only thing that I can think of now is: _I'm so going to regret this._

…

I don't know if it's the all-powerful Heathcliff blocking the boss's charges, or the large number of players around me, but fighting the boss under this condition isn't all that scary like the time that I solo-ed the firebird boss.

The floor boss fell surprisingly fast, a group of DEF-oriented players, aka tanks, would line up in front of me, blocking most of the boss's charges that was directed at me, while I just fire away. Without the need to «Switch», I'm like a really high attack bonus at the cost of one party slot.

As the large "CONGRATULATIONS" floated above the raid party, I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kira you were awesome!" Yuki ran up to me and before I could respond, hugged me tightly. I smiled, I could get used to this.

_**Front-liners cleared the 29**__**th**__** floor! Onward to the 30**__**th**__** floor!**_

_**Once again, zero casualties!**_

…

A/N: Kira and Tori huh, all I need is a mech called Freedom and I can have an unique skill called «Gundam Pilot»… Joking. The naming was a complete coincidence, the first name that I can think of for a small bird is "Tori", it does have that meaning in Japanese anyway, I only noticed it when I was re-reading this chapter for any errors and well, when I noticed this, I got lazy and left it there. Apologies for the late update, life and anime (SAO included) got in the way, and I actually wrote five different versions of the chapter before actually settling for this one. Reviews are much appreciated, thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

The Wind-clad Archer

A SAO side story

Chapter 3

"Haaaa!" With a yell, my fist projected out in a straight line, «Martial Arts» basic skill, «Flash Hit», of course, yelling doesn't add any bonus damage to it, but it became a habit of sorts. The «Drunk Ape» that I was fighting has its HP reduced by another 20%. I side stepped to dodge the mace it swung down and landed another blow with «Flash Hit». I can kill this thing anytime I want, but since I'm training my «Unarmed Combat», using basic skills over and over again is the most effective way to level the skill up.

I sighed, it was around the 37th floor that I realized I'm in need of close range combat abilities. While my archery skills reduce most enemies to polygons before they even reach me, the monsters that spawn beside me, well, it's a different story, so here I am, on the 35th floor, training a skill I wouldn't even think of using a few month back, the irony is kind of funny, on acquiring my much wanted ranged skill, I went to train a melee skill.

So, with the frontlines at the 49th floor, I "took a break" right after the main town on the 49th floor was made accessible and came to the 35th floor after finishing the quest for the «Martial Arts» skill on the 2nd floor.

"Er—" I really need to correct this bad habit of daydreaming while grinding, because now, 3 of these apes surrounded me while I was spacing out.

"Tch, this is not my day." I grimaced and backed off.

_Will you guys stop chasing me?_

As fast as my AGI parameter was, these apes still managed to keep up with me, even gaining ground on me somehow.

_No choice then._

I initiated one of my battle support skills, «Wind Walk», although only for a brief 25 seconds at its current level, I was completely hidden to everyone and everything around, players and monsters included.

These apes, having lost their target, stopped.

"Eh? Where did that guy go?" I heard a confused voice.

The apes immediately turned towards the source of the sound.

_N-no way…_

On first sight, one can mistake him for Heathcliff, he was wearing a red trench coat and chose silver to be his hair color, to be honest, he looks more like a character from a sci-fi game rather than a fantasy one like SAO.

"Oh shit—" He panicked now that all three apes turned on him.

_Oh god why? Now I have to save this guy. _I slapped my forehead.

Using the blind spot the apes created while encircling the idiot—I mean player— I rushed in and initiated the attack using a point-blank range skill «Embracer» on the back of an ape.

**Wind Walk sneak attack damage bonus!**

**Critical hit!**

**Backstab damage bonus!**

Eh? This is the first time I initiated an attack with wind walk, so there's an opening strike bonus for this huh…

The ape that I struck shattered into polygons from the overwhelming damage the «Embracer» dealt due to all these damage bonuses, while another ape is killed with a «Vertical Arc» from that guy.

_So he's not bad…_

The last ape tried to run away, but was quickly dispatched with three throwing picks from «Triple shot».

Turning to the guy with my hands on my hips, I asked in an annoyed tone, "Rushing into three apes? What were you thinking?"

"Ah-h sorry, I was trying to save—" He then looked at me, "You, actually."

I swear I must have some comical emotion on my face, because he immediately said, "Really!"

_Make sure that you can actually survive before rushing in to save someone. _I actually wanted to say that, but considering that this guy risked his neck for me, albeit in a really dumb way, I can't be such a jerk, so I merely answered with a "Thanks, I guess…"

"So anyway, want to form a party while training? Individually these guys are not strong but, when they gang up on you, it could mean trouble." He suddenly changed the topic.

"Er…" I trained solo to maximize efficiency, but then again my «Martial Arts» doesn't really do really high damage with my primarily AGI build, and he is correct, training alone does pose some dangers.

Just when I opened my mouth to respond, with a skeptical look, he looked at my coat and said, "But then again, a member of the famous «Knights of Blood» shouldn't have any trouble here."

"Ah—" _About that… _

Despite all my efforts to decline Heathcliff's invitations, he still, stubbornly, invites me to his guild with every chance he gets. It gets so vexing to the point that I laid down some unreasonable terms to make him give up.

"Okay fine Heathcliff! I'll join your guild under three conditions! First, I won't care about your guild reputation, meaning that I'll still be a solo and do whatever I want, second, I won't follow any orders from higher-ups or you, except during boss fights, third, I can leave anytime I want! If you accept these terms, I'll join." I said with a smirk then, thinking _how possibly can you accept such unreasonable terms?_

Then, the shocking answer came, "Okay then, Kira-kun, good to have you with us." And a soft chime indicating a guild invitation sounded.

All I can do was gawk with an open mouth and twitching eyes as he handed me a blindingly white coat with bright red linings, it wasn't as eye catching as any of the other KoB uniforms, but it was still one nevertheless. According to Heathcliff, I have to wear it "_so that other guilds know that you're with us."_

The coat itself offers decent stats and it's light enough for an archer like me so there's no reason not to wear it, but…

"A-ah, no, no I'm not with the erm, KoB." I said with an awkward expression. There's another reason why I'm keeping my guild a secret, since KoB is so darn well known in SAO as the top guild, its members are all recognized as "top players", and in general, a high-level player causing a big disturbance while training in the lower levels is considered bad manners, among other things. So being here, I have to keep my level a secret to prevent being labeled as a "high leveled bully". So to facilitate that, I unequipped my bow and even transferred "The famous Archer's firebird" Tori's ownership to Yuki for a while.

"But your guild icon says…" He pointed to somewhere on top of my head, probably at the guild icon on my status bar.

"Let's just go with the 'my guild has a similar icon as the KoB' explanation, okay?" I initiated the party invitation.

…

"Kira! Switch!" That, is Ray, the guy that I recently added to my party of one.

"Ah! Okay!" While Ray jumped back to dodge that mace a «Drunk Ape» swung down, I jumped in and used «Embracer», which immediately rendered the last remaining 40% of the ape's HP useless, it froze for a second or so, before shattering into countless polygons.

As I dismissed the loot window, I found Ray staring at me.

"Huh? What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You must be some kind of kungfu fanatic aren't you? We're been training for over an hour now, and all I've seen from you is «Martial Arts»." Ray said skeptically.

"Eh—S-something like that…" I gave an awkward laugh and scratched my head.

"Ah whatever, want to take a break?" Ray asked as an attempt to divert the topic.

"Sure, why not." I breathed a sigh of relief, if he asked further, I won't be able to explain why I "only" use «Martial Arts» to kill monsters.

We walked—carefully—to the nearest safe area in the forest, which was already filled with tired parties that are training in the area.

The forest training grounds on the 35th floor, «Forest of Wandering», a place that used to cause me to have a headache while navigating is now a place for the higher leveled mid-level players.

"These monsters are really strong…" I heard a guy mutter beside us.

"We are 14 floors away from the frontlines, so the safety margin is alright, but since the clearing rate is about one floor per 10 days ever since a rumored archer joined the frontlines, the monsters here are actually quite high leveled." Ray said upon hearing that, more to me than anyone else.

I almost choked on the lemon juice flavored potion I was drinking at the mention of the word "archer", _even he heard about me?_

"The respawn rate is good though." I said as an attempt to cover up my discomfort, it's true anyway, one reason why I chose here out of all places is because the monsters here are decent enough for me to train my «Martial Arts» skill, and there's a certain solo black swordsman hogging the "most efficient" training ground on the 46th floor.

"Anyway, Kira, how long more are you going to wear that red and white thing? People might think that you really are in the guild «Knights of Blood», see? People are already staring." Ray pointed out for the fourth time since we met.

Turning to Ray with a badly made poker face, I said, "I have the right to choose my own armor, and since this color combination looks cool, I custom ordered it, it doesn't really concern me that KoB has the same uniform type you know. Besides, how long more are you going to wear that overly-red thing?" I gestured to his leather coat, "I'm having a theory that these monsters attack us because they were attracted to your red coat."

"Well I—"But before Ray can respond to that, a sound of heavy armor clinking could be heard approaching us, he quickly turned towards the source of the sound and a surprised expression registered on his face.

_Hmm? _I followed his line of sight and saw someone I knew, but _what's he doing here, away from the frontlines?! _I quickly turned around and hoped that he didn't notice me.

But obviously the reason that he was approaching us was that he saw me.

"Hello Kira! Fancy seeing you here!"

_Looks like there's no way to avoid it then, _with a wryly smile, I turned around and said, "H-hi, nice to see you too, Schmitt."

Schmitt is the leader of the defense forces of the «Divine Dragons Alliance», since he's a tank of a decent caliber, he is assigned to protect the archer, me, during boss fights, so we actually know each other quite well.

_And frankly speaking, he's one of the few virtuous guys in the notorious DDA._

Taking notice of my coat, he said with a laugh, "Wow, so Heathcliff got you first? Looks like DDA was too late to recruit you."

"W-well, yea, aha, haha…" I laughed dryly, with a side glance at Ray, I pulled Schmitt out of hearing range, "So what are you doing here?"

"Well, you heard of the Christmas event? We're looking for fir trees," He said while looking around.

"Oh, that thing about «Nicholas the Renegade»?" I raised an eyebrow, "Wait, you guys actually believe in that kind of thing?"

When asked about the event, Yuki's response was, _"Evil Santa boss dropping a revival item in a game of real death? Nah, it's probably just something made up or leftover when SAO was still a normal game. Leader's not interested in it, so there's no reason to look for it."_

"Well, the higher-ups do, so we're just one of the scout teams that was deployed," Schmitt then became serious, "So I take that, from your response, the KoB isn't interested in it and won't be sending out search parties?"

"You can say that…" I shrugged.

"Well ok then, see you during the next boss fight, Kira." He said, already turning away.

"Right… See you." I waved absent-mindedly as he ran back to the group of armored knights that was with him.

_Risking their lives for something that has a high chance of being a complete lie, they are being total idiots._

I must have a serious expression on when I walked back to where Ray was, because the first thing he said when he came up to me was, "What's wrong? Something major happened?"

"Ah, it's nothing," I quickly changed my expression to a more carefree one, with a glance at the built-in clock on the bottom right, "Erm, want to rush through the forest? It's nearly 4PM, I want to get back before dusk."

"I was thinking the same thing," Ray grinned, "But how do we rush through? I had planned to depend on our luck and wait till the forest warp us to an area that's close to the outside."

"I have this," I smiled and materialized a map, "Rule number one while navigating solo in «Forest of Wandering», always bring 'the map', heh."

Just a few month ago, I found out the hard way that there's only two ways to navigate in this forest, you had to either get through each area within a minute each before you are warped to a random location, or buy an expensive map from a shop in the town, which checked the area your location is currently linked to as you made your way through the forest. So this map was bought on my fourth failed attempt to clear the forest, although that was nearly 3 month ago.

"Whoa, that thing's frighteningly expensive to buy! How did you manage the Col?" Ray had a shocked expression.

"Well, if you saved up all the money that you used to upgrade your weapon, everyone is rich," I said, hinting that as a «Martial Arts» user, there's no need to upgrade weapons, the truth is somewhat close, my «Phoenix Wing» grows along with me, so I managed to save up some Col that would otherwise be used to upgrade weapons.

"Hmm, I guess you have a point there," Ray look like he's thinking, then, muttering with a voice that's barely audible if not for my «Enhanced Senses», "Maybe I should use this «Martial Arts» too…"

"No!" I held up a hand, Ray's head jerked up in surprise, "A-ah I mean, it's not that good of a skill, for me it's just a… fetish, yea fetish, the damage it inflicts isn't that high either so it would better if you stick to your own sword style."

_And you need to break a gigantic and not to mention extremely hard rock to complete the quest too…_

"Is that so…" Ray laughed it off, "Okay let's go then, Kira, you navigate."

"Aye Aye cap." I laughed and saluted.

…

Although having a map makes navigating much easier, it seems like the forest hates me, as it never warps our party to anywhere that's even near the outside.

"So… Where are we now? Kira?" Ray's tired voice sounded behind me, we had just been warped, again.

"Tch, I don't know," Looking down at the map, we are nowhere near any of the exit points of this forest, "Want to run through this area?"

"Nah, let's wait for the next warp, then run," Ray said as if reading my mind.

"Yea…" I muttered, but somehow, I've got a feeling that the next warp—

A soft blue light enveloped us.

—won't be any better. My shoulders fell as I looked down at the map again. On top of that, it seems like we are being warped deeper and deeper into the forest, I can't even see the edge of the forest from the map now.

"This way! I can see a light!" Ray said, pulling my hand.

"Ray! You're running _deeper into _the forest! Not outside—" I stopped mid-sentence as we suddenly emerged into a large clearing, "Wha…?" I quickly looked down at the map again, it seems that our current location is in the middle of the «Forest of Wandering».

_A large clearing in the middle of the forest? Not good, especially in games._

"Uh, Ray, I've got a bad feeling about this…" I muttered and slowly backed away from the clearing.

"What? It's just a clearing." Ray said while looking around for an exit aside from the one we came from, not understanding me.

_A clearing as big as a boss room? _But of course that thought didn't leave my mouth, "Then I seriously hope I'm wrong…"

When the one minute for the random warp ended, we weren't warped away from this clearing, but rather, the trees suddenly moved around us, covering the only exit we came through.

_Shit, not again._

"Ray, listen to me very carefully, judging from the size of this place, it's probably a field boss spawn point, whatever we just did, we just triggered the boss event," I said to Ray with a hush voice, "Use a teleport crystal, wherever it warp us to, it's better than here."

"Ah, yea! Teleport! Mishe!" Ray said while holding a teleport crystal high in the air, "Kira, these things don't work! What's going on?!"

_So as I suspected, crystals doesn't work, which means this is an anti-crystal area._

"Second option then, do you have any good shields? If you can hold it off then I can—"

A low rumble was heard, followed by an immense pressure sent by my «Enhanced spatial awareness».

_The boss is appearing?!_

Various large, strangely-shaped polygons appeared in a continuous stream. As those polygons appeared — they began connecting with one another and the identity of the huge shape grew more evident. A roar that made the forest around us shake sounded.

A giant appeared with another huge roar, smashing its arms on the forest floor, and the atmosphere completely changed from a sunny forest clearing into a grim hellhole.

I'm not joking but, it looks just like King Kong.

_«Wind Arrows», Activate. _Half a year of bossing instinct kicked in, I activated my passive skill that gives an unlimited amount of arrows for a while and without hesitation, I pulled out my inventory and was just about to equip my bow when—

"Kira, you stay back and look for an opening to attack, while I get its attention." Ray turned deadly serious and drew his sword.

_Eh?! Oh come on, this is NOT the time play hero!_

I pulled out my «Phoenix Wing» and activated «Purging Shot», a skill that showed up when my «Archery» reached level 700. While the damage it does isn't that high, the most notable effect is that it knocks back its target, because as soon as the giant ape appeared, it started charging at us with an unbelievable speed.

"Shields! You focus on defense! Don't die!" I shouted at Ray as I activated another «Purging Shot». The boss roared and smashed its arms on the ground, creating a huge shockwave.

I jumped out of the way out of instinct, and fired five quick arrows in succession, another skill that I acquired some time ago, «Barrage».

Ray looked at me, his expression turned from skepticism to surprise and lastly, to relief in a few seconds.

"Okay, Kira, I'll hold it off for you!" He equipped a huge tower shield I could not imagine him using before this.

_All should be fine then, this boss— _

My eyes twitched when I saw the damage my arrows dealt, judging by the HP loss, its defense should be on par with the floor boss of the 45th floor. _There was no way that a monster from a low floor could be that strong! _After all, SAO is a game that kept to the normal pattern of online games, or should I say _was_… Ah goddammit, I continued my stream of arrow skills.

When the boss had about 20% of its HP reduced, it roared again, and numerous «Drunk Ape» spawned.

_It can summon minions? This just gets better and better huh… _If this was a manga, I would have an expression that should have the thin vertical lines over my forehead_. _(-_-lll)

"Wha…?" I heard Ray gasp in surprise, raising his huge shield in an attempt to counter the numerous apes, however, the boss took that chance and swung its arms down at him.

He was sent flying and his HP dropped into the yellow zone.

"Ray!" Raising my bow as if targeting the sky, I activated «Arrow Rain».

As numerous arrows rained down and killed off the apes en masse, I rushed to Ray and from there, I fired another «Purging Shot».

_All the «famed archer of the clearing group» could do against a field boss from the 35__th__ floor is to keep it out of range huh… _I thought bitterly.

Although technically I can just keep up the barrage of «Purging Shot» and wait till the boss's HP gauge to go down to zero while keeping it out of reach, I can't continue for very long. Maybe it was the designer's attempt to balance an overpowering skill branch like the archers, but lately, all my newly learnt high level archery skills have a certain HP cost, so if this keep up, I'll be the one to die first.

"K-Kira," I heard a weak voice.

Without looking away from the boss, I said, "Ray, concentrate on healing, I can't have you die here." With a warning beep, I noticed my HP dropping into the yellow zone as another «Purging Shot» was fired. _Tch._

"Kira your HP—!" Ray managed to get up, since we're in a party, he can see my HP.

"I'm alright, Ray, have you recovered?"

"More or less." He picked up that huge tower shield with his left hand once more.

"Kay then, hold it off for a few seconds, please." I said while firing another «Purging Shot», my HP dropping further.

While Ray rushed forward with that huge shield, I rummaged through my storage, _I really should clear it up sometime, _and dug out several bottles of high grade healing potions that tastes like lemon juice and green tea combined and gulped down its contents. Since quick healing item crystals are disabled here along with teleporting crystals, my HP is taking a while to recover, apparently it will take approximately 5 minutes to go full.

_But I—we don't have so much time._

Ray's HP is in danger of going down to yellow again. Although Ray has that huge shield, his equipment and skills were far from those of a tank. If this keeps up, it would only lead to his death and eventually, mine.

The boss's has a little over 50% of its HP left, if I use _that_ then maybe…

"Kira!" I heard Ray shout, _this is not the time to hold back, this IS a matter of life and death!_

"Ray, get away from there!" I shouted at Ray, still half-crouched behind his tower shield. "Whatever happens after this, protect yourself! Okay?"

"Kira what are you—?!" Ray shouted, eyes wide open in bewilderment

I checked my HP again, 7092/11200, it should have enough to compensate the HP cost.

"Here I go!" A warning beep sounded as my HP went all the way down to the red zone, "«Taboo: Finale»!" My bow glowed with a bright white, and my vision turned green with a super-zoomed in aiming reticle.

_Please, just die!_

An arrow that seemed to be made of pure light blasted out with a huge recoil, I was knocked back from that recoil and crashed on the wall of trees behind.

…

"Ahh that idiot!" Yuki was furious as she teleported to the living area on the 35th floor near the «Forest of Wandering», if Kira asked her to tag along, she would have loved to.

When Kira joined up with the KoB, she was genuinely happy, it felt as if their distance just got closer. He was one of the few people that she can get along with, so she thought that since he is a part of the guild now, they would be able to do all sorts of things together.

"But _nooo, _he just have to go solo like that again!" She grumbled and looked at the «Guildmate Locator», showing a little green dot somewhere in the middle of the «Forest of Wandering», "Why did he pick there of all places…"

_Of all places, he picked one that he was least likely to be found, that's just like him…_

"Tori, can you locate your owner?" She asked the firebird that is sitting on her shoulder, he nodded its head and pointed his head at her.

"Oh, right…" She sighed, since Kira transferred Tori's ownership to her, Tori would regard her as his owner. She smiled as she recalled the scene.

"_Ahh, Yuki, can you take care of Tori for a while?" He just approached her like that one day._

"_Sure, but why?"_

"_I need to go somewhere and Tori's too eye-catching to be taken with me." He smiled sheepishly and scratched his head._

"_Oh okay, I'll take good care of your cute friend~"_

_He then had a mischievous look, "You know, before Tori was tamed, he was a boss monster."_

"_Whaa—?"_

"_Yea, if I remembered correctly, his name was… Uh…" He paused, probably for the dramatic effect, "Oh yea, «The Scarlet _Death_bringer»," He raised his eyebrows and emphasized the word death in Deathbringer, "Okay Tori, Yuki here is your new master for the time being, be really nice to her okay?"_

"_Kyaaa—!"_

_All she heard after that was Kira's laughter._

"Oh look, it's the snow fairy." Yuki heard a mocking voice, turning her head towards the source, she found herself looking at a small group of DDA members.

"Hey hey, she has our archer friend's firebird too, wonder if something happened between them?"

_What's the top obnoxious guild doing here? _She chose to ignore them and continued walking.

"Hey Schmitt, maybe we should follow her, who knows, maybe she's one of Santa's little helpers, being all white and stuff." A DDA member chuckled at his own "joke".

_Your jokes are as idiotic as you look. _

"Stop it, Kira already told us that the KoB isn't interested, and we can't find any fir trees in there anyway." She heard Schmitt say.

"Oh come on Schmitt, be more of a sport, don't be all so serious all the time." Another member of the DDA said, but Yuki was already out of hearing range, having doubled her speed at the mention of "Kira".

_How do Kira stand these people… _ Yuki shook her head and continued towards the edge of the forest, it was then when something strange caught her eye.

It was a giant light pillar, and its location seems to clash with Kira's green dot on the map.

_Oh my god, «Finale»?! __Oh no…_ She started to sprint.

…

I don't know how I managed to stay alive after that blinding light pillar and the eventual shockwave hit me, but as I became aware of my surroundings again, I was being carried by Ray and our destination seems to be a blue warp point that where the boss was before.

As I stepped out of that warp point supported by Ray, I was immediately knocked down on the floor.

"Wha—?"

Ray got wary and drew his sword again.

"Kyaaa! K-Kira?"

"Tori?"

"Eh—Hi?" I said to the girl on top of me, "Ah-h Ray, this—she—I mean, put your sword away!"

"Hmm? Kira, is this your girlfriend?" Ray asked with a slightly amused expression.

Yuki immediately pushed herself up, her face experiencing the highest degree of the emotion effect and was red all the way to her ears.

I said while propping myself upright, "Nah, she's more like a little sister."

Yuki looked stunned for a while, before giving an evil smile, "Yes Onii-chan, your little sister is worried about you, now come with me." She grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

"H-hey wait a minute! Ah-h Ray I'll get back to you later!" I waved at Ray while being pulled away by Yuki—_when did her STR parameter become so high?_

Ray waved back with an understanding smile.

…

Yuki later told me (angrily) that she was getting worried that I did not return on the scheduled time, so she used the «Guildmate Locator» to trace me to the «Forest of Wandering». Then she saw a pillar of white light coming from my position and immediately dashed towards the warp point at the forest entrance, she was just about to jump in when I suddenly came out of there.

_Which explains the awkward position just now…_ I sighed, "You could have given me a little bit more time to explain to that guy just now, he helped me a lot with that field boss…"

"Field boss? Oh, that's why you used finale!" Yuki exclaimed while stuffing a piece of cheesecake into her mouth, "But was it really necessary? I mean come on, a field boss on the 35th floor? And you have to use one of your «Taboo» skills?"

"It was really strong…" I sighed, "…And I thought girls tend to avoid cheesecakes…" I tried to change the subject.

"This is a virtue world," Yuki said a matter-of-factly, "Whatever I do have absolutely no impact on my real body, so I can indulge without having to worry about calories."

"Ahaha…" I laughed dryly.

"Anyway Kira, got any plans for Christmas?" Yuki suddenly looked up from her cheesecake.

"Actually celebrating Christmas in a virtue world… I never thought it'll turn out that way…" I said, mostly to myself, while sipping some tea and looking around the cake shop, which was decorated for the occasion.

The last Christmas, the one about two month after the start of SAO, passed uneventfully, most were still under trauma of being stuck in a game, while people like me just forgot about it.

"You should really be more sociable, Kira, no matter what you said before, you still are a member of the KoB, at least celebrate Christmas with us!" Yuki said, almost forcefully.

"I'll think about it," I gave a small laugh, "But first… Whoever's been listening in on us ever since we sat down here, come out now."

"Huh?" Yuki was surprised at the sudden change of target audience for my speech, I held up a hand and gestured to a seemingly empty table beside us.

_I did give it some time, so there's no way that it is a misunderstanding._ I thought as I looked at the table.

"To have detected us when we are using our ninja hiding skills, you must have trained your mind's eye-gozaru." Two guys dressed entirely in dark grey cloth armor jumped out from under the table. _(What…?)_ It seemed they wore light chain mails on their upper bodies. The weapons on their back were small sized scimitars and on their heads were bandana caps. Overall looking, it was the so-called «Ninja» appearance, which was originality and ingenuity reproduced.

_Hah? _I raised an eyebrow, "Ahem, mind telling us why are you listening in on us?"

"We noticed you were using the «Martial Arts» extra skill-gozaru, we were hoping that you can tell us how you got it."

_What's with all the 'gozaru' at the end? Wait a minute, so these are the ninja guys Argo was talking about when she traded info with me!_

"Oh! You are the ninja guys that were chasing Argo for that info!" My fist came down loudly in my palm, "Urm… Fool-something right?"

"It's Fūma-gozaru! We are Kotarou and Isuke from the guild «Fūmaningun»-gozaru!" The ninjas—I mean Kotarou and Isuke said, slightly enraged.

"A-ah, right…" I held up a hand, "But I was under strict instructions from Argo not to disclose the info to anyone…"

_And she is right to do that too, I doubt anyone would be kind enough to not hold a grudge after that kind of a quest, well except for me, of course, but anyway…_

"You guys are _STILL _chasing her for it after an entire year? Why can't you just comb the second floor for the NPC?" I asked, disbelievingly.

"We tried! But even with our ninja detection skills, we can't find the NPC-gozaru!"

"Alright, alright, it's at a place near the summit of an exceptionally high towering mountain on the southern edge of the second floor. That place is a small clearing surrounded by cliffs, with a spring and a lone tree. The NPC is in a small hut that was built there." I said as much as I can remember, Argo is probably going to kill me for this, but I'm not the type to sell information, "But whatever happens after you take the quest is none of my business, okay?"

"Yes! Thank you-gozaru!" The two ninjas excitedly shook my hand.

"Good luc—" Before I can finish my sentence, they dashed off towards the transfer gate, probably going to do it right away, I sighed.

"So… What is so mysterious about a quest that gives an extra skill?" Yuki voiced her skepticism, having stayed silent until now.

"Oh, you have to break a rock that is near the status of an immortal object to clear the quest and…" I trailed off.

"And?"

"…and you'll get whiskers drawn on you for the duration of the quest." I said with a straight face, "Like the ones on Argo's face."

"Whiskers—? Fufu…"_ Huh? _I looked up and saw Yuki trying to control her laughter, "S-sorry, I just imagined you with wh-whiskers, nyhahaha, hahahaha!"

…

The KoB headquarters on the 39th floor had its main hall decorated for the Christmas season, as I gawked at the decorations that looked impossible to be in a game, Yuki came up with a glass of unidentified liquor.

"Like them? Leader got them from somewhere and we put them up." She said, offering me the drink.

"Thanks…" I took the glass and looked around, where a lot of people, dressed in the similar white and red uniforms, were dancing and laughing to the Christmas themed BGM that was playing somewhere.

"Come on, let's dance!" Yuki suddenly pulled me up from where I was sitting.

"Whoa—! Wait a minute— I'm not good at dancing!" Yuki continued to drag me despite my protest.

As I stumbled around with Yuki guiding me in the footsteps, the music suddenly stopped.

_Hmm? _I glanced at the built-in clock, 23:59. _Ah—Countdown?_

"…5, 4, 3, 2, 1—MERRY CHRISTMAS!"

And at that moment, I thought I heard the jingle of Christmas bells somewhere far away.

…

A/N: Apologies for this extremely late update, some jerk friend of mine emailed me a virus that fried my hard disk, just got my laptop repaired and _retyped _the entire chapter. There will be a slight delay for the next chapter as well because I'm studying for my upcoming exams. The ninja guys are from the SAO progressive series, Continuation of Aria in the Starless Night, reason for the whiskers. Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing!

P.S Oh and to_ Ruu_:yea I did take maplestory archers into consideration, but (obviously) not all of the skills came from there, and please register for an account so I can reply you through PM.


	4. Chapter 3 part 2

The Wind-clad Archer

A SAO side story

Chapter 3

Part 2

_The first death was barely noticeable, a scream, a sound like shattering of glass, and a red dot disappeared on the map._

"_Kira! Focus!" Yuki ran past me shouting._

"_Ah— Right!" I raised my bow and—wait what's going on?!_

"_Behind—Kahhhh!" Another shattering sound._

"_Dammit what the hell?!" I fired a flurry of arrows towards the source of the sound and—_

_The arrows hit air._

"_Where—?!" _What—is this pressure from above?! _I looked upwards in surprise._

_Time stopped._

_Eyes with red killing intent, a large sword glowing purple—a sword skill—was swung down at me._

_At that critical moment, Heathcliff charged in, his large cross shield raised high to block the attack._

_I heaved a sigh of relief, if it's Heathcliff—What!?_

_The large cross shield shattered, the sword went right through the paladin._

"_Heath—!" A shattering sound, once again._

_The large humanoid boss growled, seemingly declaring victory._

_Even if I'm going to die, I'll take you down along with me! _

_My bow glowed a bright white, «Taboo: Finale»!—and then—it faded._

_**Cooldown time remaining: 7 hour(s)**_

_Ugh—Cooldown? Tch, then how about this?! __«Taboo: Burst—_

"_Kira!" Someone rushed in front of me. Yuki—?! No, don't—!_

_The boss swung its sword down mercilessly._

…

"Yuki!"

_Eh—?_ I blinked my eyes, what greeted me was a white celling.

_But I was—oh…_

I heaved a sigh of relief.

_It's just a dream…_

I laid back on my bed, dazed.

_Thank god it's only a dream…_

Glancing at the built-in clock, I realized it's only 7 AM in the morning, seeing that it's still early, I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep again.

The moment I closed my eyes, what filled my vision was those red eyes full of menace.

My eyes jerked open and my breath turned into shallow gasps.

_Looks like I'm more affected by that dream than I realized… _I thought as my breathing calmed down.

I opened up my skill menu, my «Finale» still had its cooldown in that nightmare, I want to confirm whether if it is true, I wouldn't want to be caught off guard like in that dream of mine.

**«Taboo»**

**«Finale» **

**Deals 2000% damage to a single target, ignores DEF, slight splash damage.**

**HP cost: 40%**

**Cooldown: 20hour(s) Remaining: 6 hour(s)**

_Ugh, so it is true… _I grimaced and my vision automatically went down the list and I found myself staring at my other taboo skill.

**«Burst Stream» **

The words are in grey, indicating that it is unavailable, I have no idea what conditions I need to fulfill in order to unlock it, maybe I, or my «Phoenix Wing», need to reach a certain level first, as my «Path of the Wind Archer» is already mastered, at level 1000, so I figured it wouldn't have anything to do with mastery. I was going to use it in that dream, but it would never work, wouldn't it?

Well, no point worrying over it now, I slapped my cheeks, equipped my white and red coat, and went down to the lobby.

"Hi Kira! You're up early!" That, was the first thing I heard, turning around, I found myself looking at our sub-leader.

"A-ah, morning, Asuna." I wasn't surprised at her sudden appearance, what I was surprised was that I didn't realize she was there until she talked to me, usually my «Enhanced senses» will let me "feel" anyone before they approached me.

"Why so surprised?" She smiled, which completely destroyed her usual stern appearance, since I'm not under anyone's direct chain of command, and I'm on good relations with Yuki, she seems more friendly towards me than any other male member, to be honest, she's better this way too.

"Hmm? Oh, it's nothing, just a little bit surprised at your sudden appearance. Haha." I laughed and scratched my head.

"Oh, that? I was practicing my hiding skill, so I decided to try it out on our 'omnipotent' archer! Hehe."

I blinked in surprise, "I-I see… Well, consider it mastered then." I smiled.

"Just a little bit more to mastery, " She blinked, then suddenly looked serious, "Oh, you better hurry or you won't catch up to them."

"Huh…?" _Them?_

"Wait, you mean you didn't get up early to accompany Yuki for the boss scout fight?" Asuna was the one to look surprised this time.

_Boss scout fight? _The images from the nightmare flashed before me again, I felt the blood drain from my face, "When did they head out?" I asked in a serious tone.

"About ten minutes ago, but wait—!" She shouted, but I was already gone, "It's just a scouting fight…"

…

My speed is considerably faster than average due to all the buffs my unique skill gave me, and the main AGI build that I continued, so I caught up to Yuki and her escort in no time, "Yuki, wait up!"

"Ehh? Kira? What are you doing here?" Yuki spun around with a surprised expression.

"Tori?"

"I was worr—ah, I mean, let me come with you, okay?" I managed a smile, "The more the merrier, right?"

"Sure, but it's just a scouting fight, we'll retreat once we learn the boss's attack patterns, so none of your usual flashy finisher moves, okay?" Yuki said jokingly.

"I see, well just treat me as escort number two then." I smiled and saluted.

I then noticed the slight change in her escort's expression.

"A-ah, I'm not stealing your job, escort-kun!" I held up my hands in defense.

"Oh, you being here actually makes my job a lot easier, so I'm thankful for that, I'm Dale by the way, nice to meet you, Kira-san." Escort-kun, I mean, Dale, held up a hand.

I stared at that hand for a while before I realized that I was meant to shake it, "N-nice to meet you too, Dale." I shook that hand hurriedly.

When we almost reached the entrance of the dungeon, I realized a group of players are standing there, as if waiting for us.

As we approached, a person dressed like a samurai, in light armor, a katana on his waist, and a headscarf, saw us and jogged over to us, I tensed up as he approached, but was completely unprepared for what happened next.

He suddenly grabbed my right hand, started shaking it wildly, and spilled out words in rapid fire, "H-hello! You must be the Knights of Blood member that was sent to help us!" he then noticed the bow in my left hand, "Oh you are that archer! Wow to actually see you in person!"

"Eh-h, y-yea, hi—n-nice to meet you…too?" As I was replying to that with an awkward smile, he noticed Yuki and Dale coming up behind me, (actually, just Yuki) he immediately released my hand and seemingly teleported to Yuki and held her hand in a similar fashion.

_What? _I noticed the other members of that group shaking their heads, as if this always happens.

"Hi I have no idea such a cute girl is joining us! When this ends would you like to—" He stopped as I forcefully removed his hand.

"Hi. Sorry but, who are you, and what do you want." I said in a flat tone.

He looked like he finally came to his senses and that thuggish face became serious, "Oh, sorry, I'm Klein, leader of the guild «Fuurinkazan», our guild was recently permitted to join the frontlines after clearing the minimum level requirement, so this scout fight is actually our first boss fight, and your leader Heathcliff has kindly given us some help."

"Oh, I see, so that's how this thing came about… No offense but, what's your level Klein?" I asked with a smile, he seems to be a good person despite his thuggish face and earlier actions.

"60, none taken." He replied with a smile too.

_Ten levels below me huh… _

"Shall we go? We've wasted enough time talking." Dale suddenly came up.

"Yea, let's go." I let out a breath, "Hey guys, we're just here to scout but, be careful nevertheless." Klein, Yuki, and the rest of the «Fuurinkazan» nodded.

…

Although the dungeon area in the 49th floor was already mapped out to the boss room and most of the traps en route were cleared, I couldn't help but feel a bit pressured from being in a dungeon.

You see, although I have been a part of the clearing group for a while, I have never actually stepped into a floor dungeon except during boss fights, and usually on each boss fight, Heathcliff would magically have a corridor crystal at the ready, so the clearing team was instantly teleported to where the boss room is.

Even Yuki noticed my tensed up facial expression, "Oh? Kira, are you scared?" She asked in a teasing manner.

"Eh? Scared? No, of course not, why would I—"

"Ah, Kira, watch out! There's a trap tile below you!" Yuki shouted suddenly.

"Ahh!" I shouted in surprise and jumped up, because my AGI and STR were buffed, that jump was really high, I ended up jumping about a meter, and had to grab the stalactites.

Well, of course, these things are slippery and I ended up falling.

"Oww…" My HP dropped a little.

"Fufu—Hahaha! And you said you weren't scared!" Yuki grabbed her stomach and started to laugh uncontrollably.

I stood up silently and tried to make myself look dignified, clearing my throat, I said while trying to look as serious as possible, "Ahem, well, let's continue."

And then I slipped on my first step.

This time, even the guys of «Fuurinkazan» couldn't take it anymore, and the entire party, except me, burst into laughter.

…

Still sulking over what happened a moment ago, I didn't really take notice of my surroundings, and I bumped into Yuki's back.

"What—? Hey, why did we sto—" I stopped mid-sentence as I realized the reason myself.

It was the entrance to the boss room.

Everyone pulled out their window and checked the status of their battle gear, I noticed the guys of «Fuurinkazan» actually has some impressive gear at hand.

So we can actually count on them huh, that's great.

"Okay, here's the plan, the two tanks in «Fuurinkazan» and Dale will have their shields ready and focus _only _on defense, while Kira fire from a set distance away, I'll be the one discerning its attack patterns, Klein and the rest attack when needed, but focus more on protecting yourselves, alright?" Yuki sounds like her post as a forward commander for the first time.

Everyone nodded silently.

"Alright, like I said before, be careful, I don't want anyone dying here." I said while pushing open the jet black doors of the boss room.

_Especially you, Yuki. _I though while looking her direction.

The boss room was empty at first, but that trick doesn't work anymore, for us veteran clearers anyway.

"Nothing's here…" I heard a member of «Fuurinkazan» mutter.

"Don't let your guard down, there's usually a time delay of 15 seconds before the boss…" I suddenly felt a pressure from far right of the room, "Get ready…"

With a low growling sound, the room lit up.

_Judging from that growl, the boss should be a beast type, which is a relief, as beast types usually can't use sword skills._

As the light grew stronger, the growl turned into a hissing sound.

_Hissing?!_

"Ready your shields!" Yuki was the first one to react.

A multi-headed snake-like boss monster appeared before us.

«The Doombringer»

4 HP bars.

Doombringer… A bringer of doom, a gigantic snake boss.

"Oh man, this looks tough…" I said while initiating an attack with «Split Shot».

All four shots hit its body and it looked stun-ed for a split second, then rushing off to attack the nearest player, Dale.

Its first HP bar dropped by about 30%.

_Strange, it's like this guy has really low DEF._

Moving behind it, I fired another flurry of arrows, «Quad Blow», it is the highest damaging archery skill without requiring an HP cost.

Critical hit!

This time, its first HP bar actually disappeared, signaling that we are actually 25% towards killing the guy.

With 3 HP bars remaining, the snake boss did not show any change in attack pattern, nor did it receive a buff, it continued attacking Dale, but its damage is almost minimal at best.

With a side glance at Yuki, I found her frowning, "This guy seems too easy to be true isn't it?" I shouted at her.

"Yea, but unless it does anything weird, don't use any HP costing skill!"

"Got that." I said while skill chaining «Double shot» and «Quad Blow».

This cycle continued until the boss's final HP bar turned red.

"Stay away! It might go berserk!" I shouted and fired «Purging Shot» to push the boss away from the main party, to my surprise, the final bit of HP bar disappeared and the boss froze.

"We did it?" As I muttered that in disbelief, the giant snake burst into countless polygons and a loot window appeared.

The guys of «Fuurinkazan» cheered.

Just as I began to relax, I realized the pressure sent from the boss did not disappear.

"Wait, just wait a minute… Stay on guard, I don't think it's over that easily." I glanced at the loot window, the exp and Col awarded were way too low for a floor boss monster, in fact, it was on par with an average field boss from the 20 something floor.

After what seemed like an eternity, the huge "CONGRATULATIONS" that would usually appear over our heads still did not appear, and the pressure I felt intensified.

"Get back in formation! The boss is respawning!" I shouted to the still cheering «Fuurinkazan».

The shattered polygons, while still floating in the air, recombined blindingly fast, and «The Doombringer» revived with eight HP bars.

Dale immediately raised his shield again, but—

He was knocked flying with an attack from behind.

_What?!_

The laughing faces of «Fuurinkazan» froze, and Yuki rushed forward, "Dale!"

The remaining 75% of Dale's HP disappeared in a second and came the all-too-familiar shattering sound, and a red dot disappeared on the map.

_Shit, Dale?!_

It was then that I realized, a muti-headed snake-like monster named «The Doombringer», it is not just a snake, it is a hydra, a nine headed snake that was termed as «The Doombringer» from the Greek mythologies.

_And in the mythology, each head regenerates into two more when it was cut._

"Everyone, retreat! Back! Do not engage! I repeat! Do NOT engage!" I shouted while firing arrows on instinct, the boss, suddenly turned amazingly agile, dodged all of my shots.

"Tch, I can't even aim!" I grimaced.

"Kira! Hold it back while we withdraw! This is turning too dangerous!" Yuki ran past me shouting.

"Alright, I'll lay down some cover fire! You guys go!" I activated «Foresight», a support skill that raises my accuracy by predicting the movements of the enemy.

With system assist, the trajectory of the boss was indicated with a red shadow of the real boss, but I hesitated in attacking it, if it died and respawned with two times the amount of HP, what happens if I kill it again? Reviving with 16 HP bars?

"Kira, focus!"

_This is seriously turning into a case of déjà vu…_

As I thought that, the boss rushed…

Right.

In.

My.

Face.

It reared up to attack, but stopped, as I was already gone with «Wind Walk». Changing its target, it turned to Klein, who was the last in the line of escaping players, probably acting as the role of guild leader and protecting the members.

Turning back with a tragic expression, Klein readied his katana, "Everybody run! I'll stall it! Leave me behind!"

"Oh god dammit just run!" I reappeared and fired at the boss, attracting its hate.

With a loud hiss, the boss turned back and started to charge at me, but stopped again, as I activated another «Wind Walk».

_If I'm right, I can probably stall the boss until everyone made it out of the boss room safely._

And just as I thought that, the first member of «Fuurinkazan» reached the door, when he was just about to make a run for it, the door closed in on him.

_But isn't sealing off their area a field boss specialty—?_

I grimaced and continue my barrage, _if it comes down to this, the only way out is to kill this boss. _I thought that as I saw Yuki unsuccessfully activating a teleporting crystal.

_But how…?_

Our party of nine—no, eight, is nowhere near the number of players needed to clear a floor boss, furthermore with Dale… gone, our morale may have hit rock bottom, and in SAO, a lack of fighting spirit is potentially fatal.

Looking at the faces of the group near the closed exit, I guess I'm correct.

I activated «Wind Walk» and dashed to where they are hastily making a formation and from there, I fired a «Purging Shot» to push the charging boss away.

"Don't worry guys, we're going to make it out safely, somehow." I said that with a forced smile.

"But Kira, we…" Yuki began hopelessly but I raised a hand to stop her.

"I'm a «Miracle Player», remember?" I forced another smile.

As of the current SAO world, those with Unique skills, that is, Heathcliff and I, are called «Miracle players», as both unique skills are potentially game-breaking and thus «Miracles» to other players, Heathcliff's DEF is so high that his HP would never drop into the yellow zone, while l am an archer with devastating damage.

While I don't know how the game maker made Heathcliff's skill "balanced", if at all, my devastating damage came from my high-leveled HP costing skills and «Taboo: Finale» that costs me a huge chunk of HP and has a really long cooldown.

_And since that reason is currently in cooldown mode, my miracle is nearly gone as of now._

"Ah yes! That's right! Everyone! Don't give up! We have hope!" Klein overheard that and shouted.

_Well, at least I got their morale up._

…

As the boss fight continued, we realized this newly revived version of «The Doombringer» has a passive skill similar to «Battle Healing», just that the amount of HP it heals is a lot more than the player version of the skill.

"We need a huge amount of damage dealt to it instantly! If this continues we'll be the ones to be worn out!" I heard a member of «Fuurinkazan» shout while delivering a purplish sword skill to the boss.

"We really need some miracle now…" Klein muttered under his breath.

"Tch," I frowned and fired another «Barrage», but the damage it dealt became almost non-existent as its healing skill activated again.

With a warning beep, my HP dropped back into the yellow zone.

I shoved another healing potion into my mouth and continued attacking.

_Miracle? If «Finale» was usable then it may happen, but now… Wait, what about «Burst Stream»? But how do I activate it?_

The boss suddenly glowed, _a sword skill? But it's not possible!_

As if in slow motion, the boss stopped for a moment, and charged at a member of «Fuurinkazan» with blinding speed.

He froze like a deer caught in headlights.

"Run! Don't just stand there!" I shouted and shot off a «Purging Shot», although it's not at the best angle, it should knock the boss off its target.

But that shot had absolutely no effect.

While still in slow motion, the boss continued towards him and—_Yuki?!_

At the critical moment, Yuki rushed in and pushed him away, getting hit by the boss herself.

She crashed on the floor some distance away and her HP dropped to red, but the boss didn't stop there, as if a combination attack, it reared up and charged at her again.

I felt my body go cold with fear, if she took another hit—_There's no time for that!_

_Come on Burst Stream! "Activate!" _I shouted that last thought, ignoring the pain at the back of my head and the sparks my bow is producing, I mentally willed the skill to activate.

With a warning beep, my HP bar dropped all the way to red and kept dropping, slowly depleting till the entire bar became empty.

My conscious is slowly becoming dark, _just…just a little more—!_

My joints became stiff, it felt almost as if I can't move them.

_I know, I know._

This is an inescapable death, I already knew that, but, at the very least, let me save the ones I care about—!

_**Is that truly your wish?**_

My wish...? No, it is not a wish, I _demand_ a miracle now!

_**The end has already been determined for you.**_

_Even so—! I—I defy it! I'll still make it! I—_

_**In that case...**_

A crack, a shattering feeling, not on the outside, but it felt as if it came from within.

I'm disintegrating, it pains my head just to keep my eyes open.

It would be so easy to just give up right now…

But, somewhere, I remember, everyone's hopes, dreams, smiles, and tears.

"_Yuki… Let's meet again someday…"_

So I have to fulfill my role.

Time stopped, it felt as if I'm taking a whole day just to aim, with my entire consciousness gathered to the boss in front of me.

"—Taboo…"

Words came out of my mouth, it sounds so far away.

"—Burst…"

The soul struggles.

"STREAM!"

**_Crack!_**

—_Ah— now, I know why these skills are called taboo…_

«You are dead»

The soul dies, but the half-shattering body still moves as if pre-programmed.

It's programmed to attack the enemy boss.

...

It's hopeless... Yuki thought as she watched her «Paralysis» status and her red HP bar.

The snake boss, suddenly turned extremely strong, is still charging at her. She closed her eyes, and waited for that fatal blow.

It never came.

"—Taboo..." _Kira?! _

"—Burst..." _No! Don't do it! Your HP is —!_

"Stream!"

If there is anything that Yuki will consider as game breaking, it will be the guild leader's holy sword, and probably Kira's Taboo: Finale.

Yet this new skill that Kira unleashed, it can be said that it even outclass holy sword. Like an endless stream of water, arrows fired at an unbelievable speed and struck the boss, even the boss's battle healing ability couldn't recover enough HP to make up for the enormous amount of damage that was dealt to it by the endless stream of arrows.

The skill lasted for about 10 minutes, as the boss shattered into polygons, Yuki heaved a sigh of relief.

CONGRATULATIONS!

This time, the boss was finished, for sure.

"Kira! We've..." Yuki stopped, his HP bar that was supposed to be shown below her own bar wasn't there. Furthermore, he just stood there, motionlessly.

"Kira...?"

With a sound of broken glass, «The Phoenix Wing» in his hand shattered, and a minute later, he, too shattered.

"KIRA!"

…

A/N: Sorry for the long delay, parents dragged me off to holiday right after I finished my exams so I couldn't find time (or the internet access) to post it. (This was actually finished on the plane) Now, back to the story, this is part 2 of chapter 3, well it is part two because I wanted to release this along with the last chapter but got lazy and stopped at the "merry Christmas" part. And don't worry, I'm not ending it at 3 (or 4 counting this) chapters. The next chapter should be up soon(I hope at least.)

P.S I actually see Klein as a Brock (Pokémon) kind of character, comic relief, womanizer, etc. Nobody minds that, right? (Right…?)


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